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Evangelist gets back to his roots

Dublin docker’s son Colm Lyon is preaching the gospel of enterprise education as the boss of high-flying web payments provider Realex

Mark Paul

September 23 2012, 1:01am, The Sunday Times

A little over 30 years ago, Colm Lyon, the son of a Dublin docker, fourth of six boys, had just finished his Leaving Certificate.

His results were mediocre, and he was working a paper round for cash. He was listless, unsure of his future. He called to the home of a neighbour, an investor who specialised in corporate restructurings.

The man, something of a mentor to the young Lyon, ticked him off and told him to go back to school and try harder.

He took the advice, repeated his Leaving Cert and gained entry to University College Dublin to study commerce.

Back then, when Ireland was an impoverished economic backwater, gaining entry to UCD was no small achievement for a working-class Dub. Lyon credits it…

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